The fear that majestic mammals such as lions, gorillas, and elephants

Question

Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC1) 
 For SC butler Questions  Click Here

The fear that majestic mammals such as lions, gorillas, and elephants are becoming increasingly endangered by human poaching and development is a concern which informs other large fieldworks that have been performed in Africa and that have motivated a group of researchers who have set out to study the elephant populations in the Buffalo Springs National Park.

A) The fear that majestic mammals such as lions, gorillas, and elephants are becoming increasingly endangered by human poaching and development is a concern which informs other large fieldworks that have been performed in Africa and that have motivated a group of researchers who have set out to study the elephant populations in the Buffalo Springs National Park.

B) A group of researchers who have set out to study the elephant populations in the Buffalo Springs National Park in a project motivated in part by the same concern that informs other large fieldworks that have been performed in Africa – the fear that majestic mammals such as lions, gorillas, and elephants are becoming increasingly endangered by human poaching and development.

C) Motivated in part by the same concern that informs other large fieldworks that have been performed in Africa, a group of researchers has set out to study the elephant populations in the Buffalo Springs National Park, the fear that majestic mammals such as lions, gorillas, and elephants are becoming increasingly endangered by human poaching and development.

D) The concern about the fear that majestic mammals such as lions, gorillas, and elephants are becoming increasingly endangered by human poaching and development has motivated a group of researchers to study the elephant populations in the Buffalo Springs National Park, but also motivating other large fieldworks that have been performed in Africa.

E) In a project that was motivated in part by the same concern that informs other large fieldworks that have been performed in Africa—the fear that majestic mammals such as lions, gorillas, and elephants are becoming increasingly endangered by human poaching and development—a group of researchers has set out to study the elephant populations in the Buffalo Springs National Park.

generis · Answer

OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC1)

THE PROMPT  
 
• Meaning?
The sentence suggests that there is a common concern that certain large mammals are increasingly endangered. 
This concern has motivated large fieldworks in Africa. 
This same concern has also motivated a group of researchers to study the elephant populations in the Buffalo Springs National Park.

THE OPTIONS  
 
• modifier error - WHICH should be THAT
→  which  is a nonessential modifier that should be set off by commas
The word  which  is a non-essential modifier that conveys nonessential information about its noun; that information is set off by commas and can be removed from the sentence without any radical change in meaning.
If you see the word  which,  start looking for commas.

→ In British English,  that  and  which  are interchangeable.

→ In U.S. English and on the GMAT,  that  and  which  are not interchangeable.
The word  that  is an essential modifier. It conveys crucial (essential) information about its noun. A  that  clause is not preceded by or flanked by commas.
See Notes, below, for further information and a link to a recent official question that tests this rule. 
 
• subject/verb agreement
→ The singular subject  fear  does not not agree with the plural verb  have .
If the incorrect  which  I just discussed were  that , the  corrected  sentence would state:

The fear that majestic mammals are increasingly endangered is a concern . . .
THAT  informs  other large fieldworks that have been performed in Africa and 
THAT  has  motivated a group of researchers ... in the Buffalo Springs National Park.
 ELIMINATE A

• MISSING VERB
→ What did the group of researchers do? The subject has no verb. The sentence is a fragment.
ELIMINATE B

• misplaced modifier and logically absurd sentence
→ the long noun phrase beginning with  the fear that  is a noun modifier of the word  concern. 
The former describes the latter. 
The Modifier "Touch" rule requires that noun modifiers be as close as possible to their nouns.
Why is  the fear that  so far from its noun?

→ logically incoherent
→  the fear that  creates a sentence that is more than disjointed. It makes no sense. Its pieces sort of hop all over the place, creating incoherence.
ELIMINATE C

• diction error - BUT is not the correct word.
→ we do not need  contrast.  In fact, we need signals of similarity between the two groups' shared concern—or at the least no contrast word.
→  but also  does not require  not only.  Now, if you see them together (in something called a correlative conjunction), start looking for parallelism or verb errors.

• redundancy or weird meaning: the  concern  about the  fear    is the motivator? 
I don't think so. The concern motivates these groups. Call that concern a "fear." Well, the fear similarly motivates these groups.

→ This sentence makes it sound as though the  worry  about the  fear  drives the action.
In truth, the groups worry about the animals. 
ELIMINATE D
 
• Bingo. I do not see any errors.

• now we have an appositive flanked by em dashes, a construction that is sensible and effective.
→  the fear that  correctly modifies the  concern  ( the fear that  is close to its noun and set off by dashes)
→ What is the concern that informs large fieldworks that have been performed in Africa?
Answer: the fear that majestic mammals are increasingly endangered. 
KEEP

The answer is E.

NOTES

• WHICH/THAT
→ Controversy exists about this rule. 
Conservative grammarians believe that a distinction exists. (I believe so.)
Less strict grammarians argue that informal usage has erased the distinction.

So far, on the GMAT, the words  which  and  that  have not been interchangeable.
In fact, an OG 2020 question tests the distinction between essential (introduced by "that") and nonessential (introduced by "which") information.
The question was not a fluke. It also appears in OG 2021.
You can find that question  here .
I have yet to see a correct answer to an official question that blurs this distinction.

On the other hand, this distinction is hotly debated.
GMAC's adherence to the  which/that  distinction might change at any time, though for now it holds.
Stay on your toes.

COMMENTS

zhanbo  and  Archit3110  , good to see you both.

This question is indeed time-consuming.
I chose it for that reason, though: better to train with at least a few long sentences.
We want to get your psychological "muscle memory" accustomed to seeing long sentences that do not contain obvious splits.

Kudos to both. Nicely done.

zhanbo · Answer

My answer is (E). This is a time-consuming question.

(A) Main issue: " that   have motivated  a group of researchers who have set out to study the elephant populations in the Buffalo Springs National Park" should be parallel with " which  informs other large fieldworks" so it is critical that they are consistent in using their relative pronouns (by using "which" in both clauses). Plus: a concern is singular, so "have motivated" is wrong. 
Minor issue: it is not clear why it is using "other" in "other large fieldworks".

(B) Not a sentence: "A group of researchers  who  have set out to study the elephant populations in the Buffalo Springs National Park in a project motivated in part by the same concern that informs other large fieldworks that have been performed in Africa". To fix it, consider deleting "who".

(C) The placement of "the fear that majestic mammals such as lions, gorillas, and elephants are becoming increasingly endangered by human poaching and development" at the end of the sentence is problematic. It should be moved before "a group of researchers has ..."

(D) main issue: "motivating" should be "motivated".
minor issue: "the concern about the fear that" is wordy. "the concern that” or "the fear that“ suffices. 
minor issue: "but also" should be paired with "not only".

Now, if we can eliminate (A) through (D), (E) should be the right answer. But it is still wise to also read (E) to be sure. 
It is a very decent sentence.

Archit3110 · Answer

a really long SC question

A) The fear  that  majestic mammals such as lions, gorillas, and elephants are becoming  increasingly  endangered by human  poaching and development  is a concern which informs other large fieldworks that have been performed in Africa and that have motivated a group of researchers who  have  set out to study the elephant populations in the Buffalo Springs National Park.

first we have a llism issue with increasingly & development ; use of have for a collective noun group is wrong

B) A group of researchers who  have  set out to study the elephant populations in the Buffalo Springs National Park in a project motivated in part by the same concern that informs other large fieldworks that have been performed in Africa – the fear that majestic mammals such as lions, gorillas, and elephants are becoming increasingly endangered by human poaching and development.  use of have for a collective noun group is wrong

C) Motivated in part by the same concern that informs other large fieldworks that have been performed in Africa, a group of researchers has set out to study the elephant populations in the Buffalo Springs National Park,  the fear that majestic mammals such as lions, gorillas, and elephants are becoming increasingly endangered by human poaching and development .  here has usage is correct for collective noun group , but we have a misplaced modifier error , meaning issue

D)  The concern about the fear  that majestic mammals such as lions, gorillas, and elephants are becoming increasingly endangered by human poaching and development has motivated a group of researchers to study the elephant populations in the Buffalo Springs National Park, b ut also motivating other large fieldworks that have been performed in Africa .  first part of ' the concern .. about the fear ' is redundant second part of usage of BUT ' connecting ' with subject but not making sense ; hence wrong

E) I n a project that was motivated in part by the same concern that informs other large fieldworks that have been performed in Africa—the fear that majestic mammals such as lions, gorillas, and elephants are becoming increasingly endangered by human poaching and development—a group of researchers has set out to study the elephant populations in the Buffalo Springs National Park.   correct choice as this has all the right pronouns and modifier in place ; meaning is clear..

option E is correct

generis · Answer

The official explanation can be found  here .

VerbalBot · Answer

Automated notice from GMAT Club VerbalBot: 

A member just gave Kudos to this thread, showing it’s still useful. I’ve bumped it to the top so more people can benefit. Feel free to add your own questions or solutions.

 This post was generated automatically.

The fear that majestic mammals such as lions, gorillas, and elephants

Prep Toolkit

Top 5 GMAT Debrief Videos

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards

GMAT Sentence Correction (SC - EA only) Questions

The fear that majestic mammals such as lions, gorillas, and elephants

Prep Toolkit

615 to 715 in 15 Days (Ria's Strategies)

More than Quant/Verbal Abilities: Speed vs. Accuracy

745 with Only Self-Prep and GMAT Club

From 555 to 765: 210-point Improvement

Perfect 805 Score Debrief by Julia

My Rewards